Re: 2018 in Books.

I thought it only relevant to remind us of this post from the beggining of the year. how far with our goals?not too late to make determined effort for the second half of the year, yes?
Happy new month. How was January? This post has to with the new year 2018, I know this isn’t January anymore but I think February works just fine.
Now, I want you to note this excerpt, I’ll explain it at the end, so read through:

The average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but according to a new study from Microsoft Corp., people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

When this blog post idea came to me, I discarded it. I know books lovers; dedicated bibliophiles who are better suited to write posts like this. Sometimes, I don’t even read.
In a moment of eureka though, I decided to go ahead with writing this because some of my blog readers do not know these bibliophiles that I know but they do know me and what I have to write is valid.
This purpose of this post isn’t to tell you how many books you should aim to read this year, I didn’t even keep tabs on my 2017 books. I sometimes wish I did. This brings me to the first thing I think you should note:

Keep tabs on the books you read. You should probably write them down in a certain notebook. I know someone who makes a thread out of it on her Twitter account and pins it. Doing this will help you with a mental review when you want to recall all you’ve learnt through books at the close of the year.

Aim at new genres. Its good you read the kind of books you read. Its true you’re faster when you’re reading them. However, reading other genres has the effect of broadening your world view and will even help you form a solid opinion on why you still dislike that genre or why you now favour it.

This is not a competition. Don’t stress yourself. The aim of reading is to be a better person. Knowledge is power. Some aim at a chapter a day, some twenty minutes a day. If you choose to publish the number of books you’ve read, good for you. If you choose not to, good for you. Just don’t fuss about the number. Savour each book. Reading hurriedly just to get a medal among your friends takes too much energy. It even shows the books you’re reading are yet to make you rational in that regard.

Review/ Hold a book discussion. This is to be done after each book. You can have a literary journal for this purpose. After each book, write down what you think, what idea you disagree with, if you will love to read other books by that author. The alternative thing is to discuss the book with someone who has read it too. It helps you have coherent thoughts about the book, to maximize it.

Buy and read. What you invest in, you treasure. The reason you’re still having oil drip on other people’s books is that you’ve not spent well enough on your own books. Also, Read. don’t boast of the number of books you have if you won’t open them. That’s not to say you can’t buy books in advance. By all means, please do. Just make sure you’re making progress.

Last of all, for this purpose, the internet is going to have to be your enemy. Seriously. Social media auto-check gives way for a page or two of a book. It’ll help if you always have a small book in your bag to read while waiting at any point. Cheat on your phone; read a book.

I really do hope that at the end of this year, rather than having more whatsapp chat partners, you would’ve learnt new words from books at the very least. 😊
Yes, the attention span issue. This is the widely held belief like I stated above:

The average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but according to a new study from Microsoft Corp., people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

That’s why you have to be intentional about the fact that you want to read a book and complete it (Completing it. Very essential. 😁). There is a divergent view to this attention span theory on BBC.com. read up here if you’re interested in truly working on this issue. Happy New month to you!
Books, knowledge, power,
Debby.What’s your philosophy on reading? Do you write down the number of books you read? Ever held a book discussion? What are your 2018 book goals?

Nice post.
I never used to keep track of the books I read. But this year, I have decided to.
Every piece of the advice you gave is expedient.
So far, I’ve read four and half books this year…lol. The half is for one that is yet to be completed.
And I changed genres too in a way. This attention thing is a struggle tho.
With ebooks I can cheat on my phone without my phone knowing a thing about it. Hehe

Aww. I’m glad you think all the pieces of advice are expedient.
Thats good- i think four books in a month is great!
The attention span issue cuts across us all. I found out that i’d rather read short articles on The internet than settle with a book.
Lol@cheating on your phone without it knowing a thing of it. What wisdom!😁

Nice post. The idea of having a literary journal is exciting.
One thing I’m not good at is in keeping to my reading goals and recently I’ve stopped having reading goals. Which is why 2018 is about 5 weeks gone and I’m yet to set such goals.
Is the goal setting thing really a need?

I think it is important but not too important.
I think it works better when you have a minimum number of books you intend to cover in a month, e.g two. Generally, it is said that goals are better achievable when you break them down, rather than looking at the whole year.
If you still don’t want to set a goal, it doesn’t matter. So long as you have something to motivate you towards reading some more.
Something I forgot to mention in the post is goodreads.com. I’ve not been using my account there but I know it helps those who use it. You can check it out if you don’t know about it.

I think its important but not too important, to set a reading goal. It often helps if you set monthly goals e.g minimum of two books monthly. Goals are better achievable when broken down, rather than looking at the whole year.
If you still aren’t interested in setting it, it’s no problem. As long as you have something that will motivate you to read some more.
What thing I forgot to add to the busy of the post is goodreads.com.
My account there has been dormant but I know its really helpful for those who use it. You can check it out if you don’t know about it.

Wow. Great post.
I will start with point 1. I hope I can also do point 3. Sometimes I kinda do it in my head. Writing hasn’t been a close friend in recent times. I hope I can try.
Thanks for the interesting advice.
Kudos to your amazing shot. The first picture is a physics genius! You captured more books on the pile in the reflection..
Didn’t know your photography skills have been going up. 👏👏😊

I used to write them down, especially at the beginning of this year, but I stopped sha. Had to start digging when I had to give an account to someone. It’s something I want to revive though. And true, reading is not a competition, go for improving your personal best and learning as well as enjoying the book.

Yes to improving yourself through books rather than seeing it as a competition.
I think you can still write down the ones you remember reading and subsequent ones for the rest of the year. I think it’s a really good practice so no knowledge is lost. You randomly ask yourself what you learnt from each book later.

I tasked myself with reading one book a month. I downloaded about 5 of the books I wanted to read.
I think I downloaded too much at a time.
I can’t concentrate on finishing one before jumping to the other one

Lol! I absolutely get this. I absolutely do. In the end, you just have to determine to. Attach an award for yourself at the completion of each of the ones you’re on. E.g hang out with a friend, buy pizza ( if you can splurge!). Best wishes. Let me know how it turns out please.

Great post!
This year I decided to be intentional about lots of things…
#IntentionalSoulWinning
#IntentionalBookReading
Both are going very well by the grace of God.
Having ebooks on my phone has also helped me be intentional about reading, anytime,anywhere.
Not a moment is wasted!